The Toronto Maple Leafs start their preseason schedule in roughly eight weeks and while general manager Brad Treliving accomplished a lot during this offseason, a few things remain on his to-do list.
First, let’s mention what Treliving has accomplished so far this summer. He drafted a Chris Tanev clone in Ben Danford. The Oshawa Generals right-handed shut-down defenceman is going to play a huge role for his junior team this upcoming season and Treliving was able to get the dirty work out of the way just days ago, signing Danford to a three-year, entry-level contract. It’s going to be fun to watch how much Danford can develop throughout this season, especially on the offensive end. His defensive awareness and hockey IQ are off the charts and like Tanev, he’ll do anything to help his team win.
Speaking of Tanev, Treliving was able to land the Toronto native on a long-term contract. Tanev’s been linked to the Maple Leafs since day one of Treliving’s tenure and he’s going to fit in perfectly beside Morgan Rielly on Toronto’s top pair.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson was also added on the back end. The Stanley Cup-winning two-way blueliner has known Treliving for a very long time via their days together with the Coyotes organization. Ekman-Larsson is going to be a huge upgrade over T.J. Brodie and is likely going to see some time on the Maple Leafs’ first power-play unit. OEL will likely play most of his even-strength minutes with Timothy Liljegren and Leafs fans are hopeful he’ll help push Liljegren to the next level that everyone’s been waiting for.
Speaking of Liljegren, Treliving signed the former first-round pick to a two-year $3 million AAV contract. The Leafs GM was wise to keep it short-term on the extension and ensure the 25-year-old Liljegren continues to develop into a solid two-way defenceman. An ankle injury was tough for Liljegren to get over last season and even though he stepped up when Rielly was suspended, his strong play didn’t continue throughout the entire season and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s a very big year for Liljegren, and hopefully, a veteran partner he’s familiar with will help lock him in for 2024-25.
Treliving was also able to convince Max Domi to take a home-town discount, signing the versatile forward to a four-year, $3.75 million AAV contract. Domi started slow and then was one of the Maple Leafs’ best forwards in the playoffs, so kudos to both sides for getting this extension completed at the money they did. Domi’s ability to play all over the lineup is going to be something new head coach Craig Berube loves.
As for Berube, he was the first order of business for Treliving this offseason. It’s a move that was much needed, well timed and a decision the team should reek benefits from. Berube is the perfect coach for this roster and the team now has a new identity playing in front of their new intense bench boss, who can intimidate anyone with one quick glance.
What’s next for Treliving?
Yes, Treliving managed to accomplish a lot so far this offseason, but there’s plenty of work to do. First off, Nick Robertson reportedly wants out, according to Chris Johnston earlier this offseason.
Sources say that RFA Nick Robertson has no plans to re-sign with the #leafs this summer and has informed the team that he would like to be traded.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2024
Treliving is hopeful he doesn’t have to trade Robertson as he admitted after Johnston’s story came out that the team was aware of Robertson’s frustration and even though he’d like to be dealt, the GM feels there’s a really good opportunity this season for Robertson and the team needs him to be a good player for them.
However, if Robertson holds strong to wanting a trade, Treliving needs to be careful with what the return is. Toronto needs depth up front, as Tyler Bertuzzi left for Chicago and Treliving didn’t sign any free-agent forwards. Yes, Alex Nylander will get a look at training camp, so that will be a fun storyline to follow. There’s also Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten coming, but both are somewhat long shots to make the team, Minten especially. So if Treliving trades Robertson, it needs to be for a versatile forward who can step into the Maple Leafs’ middle six immediately.
Transitioning from the Robertson saga, Treliving has a couple of other tall tasks to complete and should be striving to do so before the start of the regular season. This includes extending Matthew Knies on a long-term contract and also doing the same for Jake McCabe.
There’s also Mitch Marner and John Tavares who are eligible for extensions, but these two feel like a bit more of a waiting game. Marner’s been linked to trade rumours, meanwhile, Tavares will have to take a massive pay cut if he wants to finish his career out as the Maple Leafs’ third-line centre of the future. The Marner trade buzz has quieted a ton and from the outside looking in, it appears Berube is going to get a crack at coaching the same core who haven’t been able to win anything but one Stanley Cup Playoff round the past eight seasons.
So let’s push the two stars to the side for now, and Treliving needs to be zoning in on Knies’ extension especially. Nothing against McCabe and the team absolutely loves him, but he should be priority #2 right now. Knies’ extension is a must for Treliving to complete sooner than later. He can’t wait this out because Knies may go off in 2024-25 and completely sewer his general manager financially.
Knies is a 21-year-old power forward who is developing into a force up front in Toronto. He should be in line for first-line left-wing minutes alongside Marner and Auston Matthews to start next season and given his work ethic and two-way awareness, Berube is going to love sending Knies over the boards on a very regular basis. If Treliving waits the extension talks out and doesn’t try to get something done before the season starts, the price tag is going to climb with each passing game.
The Leafs waited on Nylander’s extension and it cost them millions. Nylander went off to start the season and ended up increasing his AAV by roughly $1.5-$2 million thanks to his hot start. Knies could easily do the same. Treliving doesn’t need to bother with a bridge deal for the Arizona native. Work out an eight-year extension, and get Knies locked in for the foreseeable future. He has captain material and all-star potential written all over him. Expect a 20-25 goal season from Knies in 2024-25 and hopefully for everyone involved, an extension announced before opening night.
At the end of the day, the work never stops for the Maple Leafs GM. To me, Knies’ extension needs to be at the top of the priority list, followed by McCabe’s. Once these two are out of the way, Treliving needs to turn his attention to Marner and see where his camp is sitting when it comes to his future as a Maple Leaf. Once Marner’s future is sorted out, extending Tavares’ at a much cheaper AAV, rounds out Treliving’s to-do list.
Will all of this work be completed by opening night? Likely not, but Treliving would be wise to at least get Knies’ extension out of the way.
